The war against abstinence education wages on across the country. The comprehensive sex ed crowd was apoplectic with the results of a Mathematica study that showed kids who had abstinence education programs were just as likely to engage in sexual activity with the same rates of “dangerous” behavior. The flip side of the study showed that abstinence education also “did no harm” in that the “risky” behaviors were just as frequent between both groups, but that got ignored. Predictably, the studies that show abstinence ed works also go ignored.
The study itself has recycled some of the same claims that come up every time someone objects to abstinence education. Representative Waxman did a study in 2004 that purported to show all the damage abstinence education does, but between outright stupid objections and showing that some programs do work, his attempt failed.
The push for comprehensive education is nothing more than an attempt to ram values down parents’ throats. The United States is a values pluralistic society that works precisely because other people’s values are respected and tolerated. Except in the narrow case of values that are criminal or quasi-criminal, the government shouldn’t start dictating to citizens what values they must have, religious or otherwise. In short, if government education programs are going to deal with sex (and it’s not clear that this is a necessary area for government to be involved in) they need to do so in a values neutral manner.
A reasonable position would be to allow comprehensive sex ed, abstinence ed, or no sex ed at all to be choices available at the sole discretion of the parents. Parents, as a rule, know their children the best and are best able to make the most informed decisions about them. However, far too often the government turns the school system into a parole office for which parents must issue an accounting of their decisions after committing the crime of conception.
Even the ACLU, an organization that allegedly exists solely to protect the bill of rights, demands that only comprehensive sex ed be taught because that’s supposedly the only legal way to do it. Apparently the Constitution requires nothing less than full and complete courses in sexual technique and pleasuring for six year olds.
The reason for forcing the government to present only comprehensive sex ed from the highest levels is clear when it is realized that parents want abstinence ed for their children by a 2:1 margin. The ACLU always stands ready to thwart the democratic process by forcing their values down the throats (and into the pants) of Americans by going to unelected judges to force the issue.
The message is clear, not only parents can’t be trusted to make this decision for children, but lawmakers cannot be trusted either. All that is left to do is for the ACLU to shop for the right judge to give them what they want judicially for what they could never win democratically.
Instead of looking at the reasons why children engage in sexual activity when and how they do, comprehensive sex ed advocates try to bypass parents to present cookie-cutter values without parental involvement. There are some interesting studies, for instance, that show that intelligent kids don’t have sex.
The school system in this country has enough problems producing students that can compete in a global economy. They certainly don’t need to have days taken out of their classes every year while they are already being left behind by the rest of the world academically. Schools should spend their time focusing on academics, not on being one-step social service agencies.
A constant refrain in politics is anger at the “Christian Right” forcing their values on American society. How about some reciprocity? Let’s leave the parenting to the parents.
John Bambenek is the Assistant Politics Editor for BC Magazine and is an academic professional for the University of Illinois. He is a syndicated columnist who blogs at Part-Time Pundit and the executive director of The Tumaini Foundation which helps AIDS orphans and other children in Tanzania to get an education.
He is the current owner of BlogSoldiers, a blog-only traffic exchange.
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mruffolo said,
Public schools are government agencies. The ACLU is a tool to change laws to reflect popular attitudes.
The best government governs least, or, better, not at all. But for me I will follow God’s laws the best I can.
May 3, 2007 at 3:47 pm
BIGbrotherbites said,
I dont care if Stalinism takes our country over (like we’re headed) I will still live my life by the Word, as will my kids no matter what the schools teach.
Public Schools are Cesspools of deviant ideologies and teach only PC, tolerance to every culture but our own, Liberal and homosexual garbage with little if any resistance from the masses.
May 3, 2007 at 9:04 pm
chas said,
What hippies really want is kids who are promiscuous rather than monogamous. In the face of all the evidence that monogamous people have more sex than promiscuous people, it’s about money. They want young people to connect a certain night club, cable TV channel, concert hall, movie theater, to kids reoccurring sex drive. They want them to throw around a lot of money to impress their date, and maybe buy a little drugs on the side. Then come back next week, and the next week… Beyond the promiscuity is the sex trade. Big money to be made by dancers, porn, prostitution etc… In every one of these, a price is put on humanity that should be free. They become driven by market forces, where the hottest new honey that catches everyone’s eye has the best hours makes the most money and the not so hot get the worst hours and the least money. They better make enough when they are young to care for themselves when they are old, because age creeps up quickly.
These are very powerful forces who want kids to be morally adrift. Anyone who is still pretending the public schools are neutral needs to answer why the overwhelming majority of redneck Christian kids leave the church, and only 9 % believe there is absolute morality, according to Bruce Shortt’s The Harsh Truth About Public Schools. This is not neutrality, it’s poison. When he pounded on the Southern Baptists they wouldn’t do anything about it. Apparently there are too many Pastor’s wives and parishioners who are employees, teachers, and administrators in the public schools. How close does this come to burning incense to Cesar?
May 4, 2007 at 7:44 am
midcitiesNCP said,
May 4, 2007 at 11:35 am
Squiggy said,
Well, duh. They can’t have sex with kids who don’t put out. If nothing else, at least they can feel better about themselves since “everyone’s doing it”.
May 4, 2007 at 11:45 am